From Olympics to Armaggeddon In 1500 Words or Less

As I set here watching the 2016 Rio Olympics, I’m amazed at the level of competition we show in all our events.  If you listen to the rhetoric that comes from our political leadership and the direction we’ve taken in education, you’d be amazed too. Doesn’t seem like we’re teaching our children to compete, in anything! Then we watch the Olympics, we see our people competing and winning. Now, if you’re one of the “everyone gets a trophy” set, I’m left wondering what, if any, pride you have in our Olympic Team. Sorry, but this kind of goes against everything you preach. What’s with that?

I’ll admit to being skeptical of Michael Phelps entry into the 2016 Rio Olympics. I figured it would be great to go out on top. Coming to the Rio Olympic Games felt like addiction to the spotlight. As I think back now, I suppose Michael may have felt the same way, with one revision. He wasn’t finished in his climb to the top of the Olympian Medalists food chain. (See what I did, bringing in a competition reference? That’s a clever bit.). Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian in the history of these games. He excels in both team and individual events. However, it’s his competitive “human” nature and not some touchy-feely “everyone’s a winner” approach that gave him his success.

A big shout out to our women’s gymnastics team, Olympic Gold Medalists. That’s two Olympic Golds. We also took the gold in London 2012. We dominate the swimming events and now the women’s gymnastics as well. These are “our” sports. Many countries have a sport or more they dominate. The Chinese dominate diving. And after watching some of their performances, I can see why. The Chinese Olympic diving team is fun to watch.

Of course, there are some disappointments. Our Olympic Teams beach volleyball performance, top of that list. How can you play undefeated through all the beginning games and then lose when it counts? Both the men’s and women’s team losing to Brazil. Our Olympic Teams were favorites for gold, but when it came down to the wire, we couldn’t win. Kerry Jennings-Walsh, the superstar of this Olympic event and undefeated in Olympic play, finally loses one and it knocks us out of gold. Not the time to lose. I’ll give her credit though. She’s 38 years old and the mother of three. Don’t think to rest of us can really compare.

I don’t know enough of the equestrian events to be able to hazard a guess about our medal chances in the Rio Olympics. I’m going to assume we have at least an outside chance. And I can only watch so much running. Maybe they could show some of the other events. They move along faster.

So, how about the equestrian events? Who else thinks the horses are the real athletes? They do the running and jumping. The humans job seems to be to stay on the horse and keep a posture that would make any mother proud. A difficult thing to do, I’m sure. But, considering there’s are human version of this, doing the running and jumping without a horse. Them be athletes.

We, as a country, are a team. We need to remember this fact. Because as a team, we need to work together. Towards what you ask? Winning, on the world stage, of course. Whether it’s in the political arena, economic strength, or military might, we need to win. Winning would fulfil “The Donald's” vision of “make America great again”. And wining should pull us together, covering Hillary’s “bring America together” slogan. See, winning is good. I know that’s not what you’re being taught, but maybe it should be.

Unfortunately, our leadership doesn’t see it that way. This started with “Cowboy Dumbass” and the “bunker” mentality his administration adopted. Give what happened on 9/11 I’m not surprised. Let me make something clear at this point, I thought going to Afghanistan and eliminating their military and political leadership was a good move. We scattered an enemy that had proven their ability to kill us. We even went a step further and attacked Iraq. What? I’m sorry but this one was a huge mistake. Iraq was a belligerent state, but hardly a threat. We could have hit North Korea. I know, what about that.

We had a treaty with North Korea during the Clinton administration. (Just a thought, I suppose if Hillary gets elected President, I’ll have to put some kind of clarifier so readers know which Clinton admin I’m referencing.) President Cowboy Dumbass did recognize the danger this treaty represented. Too bad, he was a little late on pulling out. It seems that helping North Korea’s civilian nuclear program allowed access to technology and procedures that ultimately helped them develop a nuclear weapon. Exactly what was supposed to NOT happen.

Along comes President Professor Dumbass. What does he do? Enters into a treaty with Iran. The same “you promise not to develop an atomic weapon” and “we’ll help you build your civilian nuclear program”. Iran was already getting help from the North Koreans and Pakistan. Both nuclear armed powers. Sure, that help was with weapons programs and not civilian power generation, but why do we need to get involved. Admittedly, I don’t think the North Korean treaty had as many hidden details as the Iran treaty. If your curious, Google it yourself. I’m putting a thought together, not researching my manifesto.

Is it foolish to think we’ll get the same results with Iran that we had with North Korea? The same final results? (Love the Olympics.) North Korea has nuclear weapons and continues to relentlessly pursue advanced missile delivery systems capable of attacking our country. Even as dangerous as this predicament is, it’s nothing compared to the threat a nuclear Iran represents. True, North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong-un, is nuttier than squirrel poo. It runs in the family. His father, Kim Jong Il was truly ill in the head. In fact, he was a complete “looney-tunes”. But even with congenital insanity running in the dictators’ family, they're still a secular state. The North Korean powers want to stay in power. Not going to be easy if they start using their nuclear weapons.

Their ally China has stated publically any nuclear weapons use in their sphere of influence would be seen as an act of war against them and they would respond appropriately. Much of this bluster was directed toward India and Pakistan, but the sentiment was not lost on the North Koreans. So we continue the status quo. That’s to say, North Korea has nuclear weapons but no way to profit from their use. Iran, while not lead by rulers with insanity running in their bloodlines, are religious extremists. This particular religious extremist sect of Islam is responsible for much of the terrorist bloodshed throughout the world. Yea, let’s help them get a nuclear weapon.

What do you thinks going to happen when Iran gets a nuclear weapon? Day One, they threaten their neighbors. Those neighbors gather to discuss what happens next, now that Iran is a nuclear power? Well, obviously, they start their own preparations for developing nuclear weapons. A new nuclear arms race. Yea racing!!! And that’s just on day one.

It’s not hard to imagine that in just a short time, somehow, a terrorist group associated with the radical elements of Islam will acquire a nuclear weapon and detonate it within Israel’s borders. Most likely, Tel Aviv but can you imagine Jerusalem? I honestly think they’d hit Israel before the U.S. More bang for their buck if they do it in their own back yard. Of course, the Israelis will determine it was a weapon made by Iran or at least the components and materials came from the Iranians. Shortly thereafter, Iran ceases to be a viable country. From there it snowballs out of control. Thus does our civilization end.

Perhaps we shouldn’t have gone down this road again. It didn’t work with North Korea. They have nuclear weapons. It won’t work with the Iranians. They will develop nuclear weapons just as the North Koreans did. They will, unlike the North Koreans, use those weapons. They are acting from religious extremism. Iran's religious extremist leadership isn't concerned with furthering its’ power base. Instead, they’d like to bring on the end of the world, Armageddon. No kidding. That's their definition of winning. They’re like the James Bond villain. It’s conquer and global dominance for their religion and its’ practices or death to all. Bring on the twelfth imam (go on, look it up).

Of course, that’s just my opinion. You could be wrong?

P.S. How did we get from Olympic competition to Armageddon? No idea. Yea to rambling manifestos!

Gender Identity and Restrooms: An Existential Question?

                Ever wonder how and why certain social issues come to the front of our collective consciousness? One minute the talking heads of our cable news networks are all over an issue. Next, we’re confronted with a social crisis. It climbs out of that social media well like the creepy girl from the Ring. Where did the issue come from? I don’t believe it evolves naturally. I suspect it’s a distraction. Can anyone say “red herring”?

                Social media has got to be the easiest group ever to manipulate. Take, for example, the uproar back in July 2014 over a photo posted to Facebook by Jay Branscomb. (See, I did some research. Pat on back.) Go ahead and google it, I’ll wait.

Are we back? Ok, lets continue. As you can see, the photo depicts a hunter posing before his kill. At least that’s what social media ran with. But come on, it was a picture of Steven Spielberg on the set of Jurassic Park. The trophy kill was a movie prop of a dinosaur. I mean, how stupid are we? It’s a fucking dinosaur. Small children everywhere know what a dinosaur is! Their extinct right? And haven’t existed for 65 million years! (Thought I better mention that, you know, just in case.) Are we really that easy to manipulate? Apparently, yes, yes we are!

                So, who’s doing the manipulation? Let’s try to answer that question using the most recent social media “cause celeb”. Can the transgendered or even those who happen to be biologically one sex but identify with the other, use the public restroom of the gender they consider themselves to be? Well, if you dress like a woman, act like a woman and quack like a duck, (see what I did there? That’s a clever bit!) you use the woman’s restroom. The bathroom police aren’t going to stop you. How would they know you have man parts? And the same goes for those of you who gender identify as male. You use the men’s room.

I’ve heard the opposing argument, “would you want your [insert child’s gender here] in there with ‘them’? I’m assuming the ‘them’ refers to the transgendered or gender self-identified. And yes, I’ve seen Benny Hill and know what it means to ‘assume’. Still, how are the little terrors going to know? Why would they care? What have you been teaching them? It’s not like the transgendered individual is going to “whip it out” as the saying going. The women’s restroom doesn’t include urinals, does it? Sure the stalls have more gaps in their coverage than a Miley Cyrus costume but mind your own damn business, that’s what I was taught.

And for those who gender identify as male, now there’s a product for you! Would you like to use the urinal in the men’s room? How about writing your name in the snow? Check out this link. Http://www.backpacker.com/gear/apparel/trail-clothes/category-womens-apparel/gear-review-female-urination-devices. How’s that for gender equality!?

Ok, back to the issue I was blathering about a moment ago.  If this issue was a distraction, what was it distracting us from? And who was orchestrating the distraction? The second question is easy to answer. The Obama administration sparked the issue in the same way a pyromaniac sparks a fire. The Departments of Education and Justice issued guidelines to public schools that basically said students can and should use the bathroom they gender identify with; whether they be male or female.

Ok, so what. I guess I’m one of the un-initiated and just assumed that’s what they were already doing. Of course, just to show my ignorance, I suppose some less than ethical teenage boy might use that as an excuse to shower with the girls after gym class. But, of course, this is the ‘real’ world and that’s not going to happen. (You should probably read that last bit in a sarcastic tone.)

As to the why, what was President Obama’s administration trying to distract us from? Here is where I’m going to use my superpowers. Yes, I have a superpower. It’s the POWER TO REMEMBER! What was the big issue dominating the news cycle before this self-identify restroom gender issue burst to the surface like a teenagers’ zit? The relocation of Syrian (and I use this term in its broadest possible definition) refugees.

Let’s play a game. The game is from Sesame Street. It’s called: Which of these things is not like the others. Which of these things just doesn’t belong? Did the song pop into your head too?

 

 

 ^{First picture is from Reuters and the other 3 are from Time.com}

Have you figured it out? It’s not: one’s in color and the others are black and white. Look closely. In one picture of ‘refugees’, in this case from Syria, (that’s the colored one) what do you see. Males of military age fleeing the fight for their country. I like to call them cowards. What would America look like if all the men of military age ran away during our Civil War? The other three pictures show refugees form WWII. Notice the absence of men of military age? That’s because they were fighting and yes, dying on the battlefield.

                I’m not trying to glorify war. It really is hell on earth. Just ask a vet. After more than a decade of war, there are plenty of vets around to ask. But I think we need to remember just what a refugee actually is! Women, children and the elderly, you know, innocent victims. Or, if you have a more military mindset, collateral damage. Tragic, but often unavoidable. These are the people we have a moral obligation to help. A spirited public discussion on what form that help will take is necessary.

Still, refugees, traditionally, are not males of military age. Sure, times change but ISIS (you remember them) has stated they plan to infiltrate us through these refugees. And the Federal Government has no way to detect them. This is a problem. Can you say “Mateen” and “Pulse Nightclub”? How about “San Bernardino”? Now, I know these murderous acts weren’t necessarily done by refugees. It does however, serve to illustrate ISIS’s ability to hurt and kill us. After all, the radical Islamic terrorists that committed the atrocities said they were doing this for ISIS. Maybe we should believe them? Not according to President Obama.

Having said that, what does President Obama do? He goes ahead and brings Syrian refugees in anyway. Doesn’t matter that the American people have some concerns. Just because he could. His administration pledged to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees by 2016. Way behind on that promise, and our attention elsewhere, what does the administration due? Cut the already woefully inadequate vetting process down to a mere 3 months. Yup, that’s going to work. No security issues with that!

In conclusion, what have we learned? When these social issues pop up, seemingly out of nowhere, ask yourself: what I’m I missing? What don’t they [insert any group/government or entity you wish here] want us looking at? What are they up to? Is this a giant, smelly red herring plopped down on the table of our minds? Is this issue at this time meant to distract us? And another thing. This one regarding the hole public restroom issue. Why don’t we go to unisex bathrooms? A lot of public places have a small version of the unisex bathrooms. They’re called “family” restrooms. It’s just a thought.

 

 

 

[Insert Clever Title Here]

I’ll post these “lunatic rants” on a variety of subjects with varying degrees of competence and research. However, I wouldn’t expect any ground-breaking ideas or even coherence, if I were you. Though I will try to use proper grammar and keep the cursing to a minimum, (yep, that’s going to happen). And I’ll use spellcheck.

Where to start. Update the apps on my tablet. Ok, done. Spend an hour reading up on what are the best places to post my blog, check. Go smoke cigarettes, check. Pace around mumbling to myself, check. Watch Fox News blather on for a bit, check. Listen to the FBI news conference regarding the terror attack at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, FL....

Oh god, my brain hurts. I swear the Feds just said they edited the 911 calls received from that nut job, Mateen, during his bullet ridden rampage at Pulse nightclub because, and I’m paraphrasing now, they didn’t want to give the murderous bastard any free publicity. He’s dead dumbass. He doesn’t need any publicity. Also, I pretty sure dead people aren’t concerned with their public image. There’s no que, at the end of it all, for updating your earthly profile. There’s just not!

If the Fed’s don’t want to use words and phrases like: terrorism, Radical Islamic terrorist, Allah, ISIS and many more I’m not going to bother to type, wouldn’t want to upset the NSA and all, fine, I’ll accept that. We all know the federal government edits what they tell us. After all, the federal government admitted they think the biggest threat to them is we the American people. And what’s with the us versus them mentality anyway? I thought it was “government for the people, by the people”. Better not let us come to any conclusions for ourselves, right?

Personally, when it comes to the federal government, I just want better lies from them. It’s like they think we’re ten years old or something. It’s insulting. This wasn’t a case of gun violence. The terrorist attack on the Pulse Night club was motivated by religion, Islam to be more specific. Mateen chose that place because it catered to the LBGT community. He murdered those people because they were gay or at the very least, associated themselves with the LBGT community and lifestyle. He was (thank God for him being a "was") a radical Islamic terrorist and not a homophobic psychopath. Mateen killed innocent people because their behavior didn’t follow the tenants of his religion. It’s as simple as that.

Why we cannot just admit this, is beyond me. Maybe we’re just afraid that if we identify these evil, blood thirsty, murderous bastards with Islam, we in the West will start to wonder if every Muslin we meet is a potential threat to us. Maybe we would, but at least for the moment, the active terrorists are Muslim and the Muslim world community doesn’t seem interested in stopping them. Can you imagine the outcry from the Christian community if these kind of terrorist attacks were committed in the name of Jesus?

Yes, President Obama can remind us again and again of atrocities committed in the name of Christianity. And yes, there were plenty. But what that useless wet fish he’s become fails to tell the world; those atrocities were committed hundreds of years ago. Medieval even, as in it happened during the middle ages. Not last week! Christians are mostly peaceful. Jews are mostly peaceful. Are Muslims? Yes, I think they are, but not because the Muslim leadership preaches such, but because, it’s who they are as individuals.

But where’s the outcry from the everyday Muslim? Why aren’t the moderate Muslims crying out the way the Christian community would? Because, and this is just my opinion, you could be wrong, they feel the radicals among them have a point. I think they feel slightly guilty that they’re not doing more to curb the perceived immoral behaviors they see around them. And it’s this Islamic teaching that’s the problem. Marking those who believe and act differently than you as evil and in need of punishment is the very definition of intolerant. And promising the Islamic terrorist rewards for taking action, all I can say to that is: WTF!!!

Now, my heart goes out to the LBGT community as it would with any group targeted because they are different, with the exception of the hate groups, they can all fuck off! But that’s what happened here. A group, in this case ISIS, holds as immoral and condemned, another group, in this case the LBGT community. So ISIS puts out propaganda inciting those with weak minds to kill in gods name. I think they offer virgins and such if you die killing non-believers! Not sure what the virgins think about being offered up as a reward, but the Muslim world doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to women, so the average Muslim probably wouldn’t care what she thought. Apparently, there are also training manuals and even videos on line to help the crazies (radical Islamic terrorists) act out. And by act out, I mean KILL YOU!

This next bit is for the hacker group Anonymous, CAN’T YOU SHUT THESE ASSHOLES DOWN? (I put this bit here in case they’re watching.) Paranoid much?

Let’s continue. Here’s an interesting thought to throw in at this point. Isn’t the god of Islam the same as the god of both the Jewish and Christian religions? And in many (most?) countries with Islam as the state religion, they stone to death or otherwise execute members of the LGBT community, right? And they do it because their god told them to kill these people. Well then, I guess we should all be happy that Christianity and Judaism don’t go about evangelizing the same way. Or maybe god just tells them to do other things with their time. Perhaps a bake sale or possibly a fish fry?

And why do we in the West continuously act surprised that someone from the Muslim religion might harbor evil, yes I said EVIL, thoughts towards us? And act on them! Modern terrorism started with that bastard Yassar Arafat as far back as the late 1950’s. He killed innocent women and children to affect change. And he was a Muslim right? Although, to be fair, I think his motivation was more political than religious. He hated the Jews and wanted a country for the Palestinian people. He just used Islam to justify his actions and unite the Palestinian people.

Another interesting fact: Abraham, you remember him from the bible, he’s acknowledged as the father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Think not? You know that tomb in Mecca all Muslims need to pilgrimage to at least once? Well, who do you think is buried in that tomb? Abraham, that’s who. Now, repeat after me, “sibling rivalry”?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not bashing the Islamic religion, at least not any more than I’ll bash the other two religions which think their way is the only WAY. That’s to say, I’ll beat them like a redheaded stepchild. Sorry to all the redheaded stepchildren out there. I obviously don’t condone child abuse. And don’t bother to email me or comment on that last bit, I know it’s offensive. It’s just an expression. Let it go. Besides, if you’ve read this far, you know there’s plenty more to troll over. I’ll leave you with this thought. The former president of Iran, Mahmoud Im-a-nut-job (it’s actually Ahmadinejad) said, in an address to the United Nations that Islam is a tolerant religion and they will kill anyone who says otherwise. While I paraphrased that, it is what he said.